NICOLAES MAES (DORDRECHT 1634-1693 AMSTERDAM)

The gathering of water from a spring with a mussel shell derives from P.C. Hooft's famous play Granida of 1605. This motif and the spaniel are to be found in a number of children's portraits by Maes, which date to circa 1675-80, like the present painting. Maes by then had moved from Dordrecht to the wealthy city of Amsterdam, where his fashionable brand of portraiture found particular praise: ‘so much work came his way that it was deemed a favour if one person was granted the opportunity to sit for his portrait before another, and so it remained for the rest of his life’ (A. Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen, II, The Hague, 1719, p. 275).